The guitar market is often lumped together as exactly that: an amalgam of all different types of guitars, and every manufacturer from small to large. That, however, isn’t really an accurate way to look at a market segment boasting such a high level of diversity and that evinces sales trends, even within the guitar universe, that sometimes move in opposite directions from one another. For that reason, we at The Retailer think it’s worthwhile to host “roundtable discussions” such as this one, in which we gather prominent members of the guitar manufacturing community, representing a range of company sizes and product focuses, and ask for their impressions about the relative strength of the market, trends manifesting themselves and ways of ensuring there are more guitar players in the future than there are now.t
This year, our respondents are Dennis Webster, Guitar Marketing Manager, Yamaha Corp. of America; Ken Haas, General Manager and Penny Haas, Public Relations, Reverend Guitars; Justin Norvell, VP of Fender Marketing; and Michael Ciravolo, President, Schecter Guitar Research.
The Music & Sound Retailer: The guitar market seems to be in a constant state of flux, impacted by music trends, the state of the economy and other factors. Speaking broadly, what is “hot” in the…